Gov. Janet Mills has again single-handedly scuttled an attempt to correct a significant historical injustice. And this time, in a gesture both ironic and cynical, she vetoed her own bill, L.D. 2273, which was already a severely pared-down version of previous legislation she opposed. The governor’s claim to strongly support a farmworker minimum wage rings hollow in light of the facts. What is now evident is that on the issue of justice for farmworkers, the governor is not a leader but an obstruction.

In the past, Gov. Mills has offered a variety of specious arguments to justify her opposition to previous similar bills. This time, her explanation focused on only one: that the amended bill would enable farmworkers to pursue justice through our courts rather than relying solely on the Maine Department of Labor. Why farmworkers shouldn’t have that option, which she acknowledges in her veto message other workers do, and as all workers can under many other statutes, is unclear.

The governor’s peculiar obsession against private rights of action in general is a matter of record, which probably explains why she added it perfunctorily to the recommendations of the Agricultural Worker Minimum Wage Committee she appointed last fall in the wake of her last veto on the subject. But why it’s particularly important to her with regard to a group of workers whose rights are already severely truncated is especially confusing.

If the frequency of private legal actions taken against employers under current protective statutes that allow such actions is any indication, the governor’s concern about overburdening employers and the courts with nuisance suits is unfounded. Add to this the unlikelihood that agricultural workers – who are typically widely dispersed, isolated and for several reasons especially reluctant to challenge their employers – will sue and those concerns diminish to near zero. Though when warranted, and given the already stretched capacity of Maine’s Bureau of Labor Standards to pursue such claims, private lawsuits represent a crucially important enforcement mechanism.

As before, the governor cites the “unique nature of the farm sector” to justify her opposition to private litigation as well as other protections currently denied to Maine’s farmworkers. But in truth, special pleading by the farm lobby notwithstanding, every business in every industry faces “unique and diverse” challenges. Does the governor’s particular concern for farm owners reflect a lack thereof for other sectors that are currently subject to lawsuits by their employees, as well as a raft of other protections from which agricultural employers remain exempt? No doubt representatives of retail, construction and various other sectors could pose equally strong arguments why they too should be exempt from numerous employment regulations. (Will the governor, in fairness, propose legislation removing such potential legal encumbrances from all Maine employers? Let’s hope not.)

Maine’s farm lobby includes and represents many admirable individuals, and to their credit, they advocate very effectively for their interests. But their claims to exceptionality, which the governor repeatedly cites in her several veto messages, are transparently wrong. I believe that Mainers sincerely value and appreciate the unique importance of our agricultural sector. But if we as a state want to protect and support farms more than we already do, we should seek ways to do so that do not uniquely harm some of our most vulnerable workers.

Another bogus claim that the governor makes in her veto message is that, when it added back the lawsuit option, the Legislature gave her “no choice” but to veto the bill. This is nonsense. One important element of leadership is compromise, and as the state’s premier leader, Gov. Mills could have chosen to compromise on this one minor point in the interest of the real progress that she espouses. She didn’t.

Gov. Mills’ veto is deeply disappointing but not surprising to those who have observed her previous conduct on the subject. (The governor’s simultaneous veto of L.D. 525, which would have extended protections for concerted activities to agricultural employees, is also disappointing, though quite a bit less surprising.) It is, however, a sad failure of leadership and a rebuke and betrayal of the many good folks who have worked diligently over the years (most recently at her behest!) to find a way forward. In addition to agricultural industry representatives, those people include worker advocates, current and former legislators, and members of her own administration. I hope and trust that they will not give up.

Decades ago, when Dr. King famously and movingly spoke about the arc of the moral universe, I believe he meant for us to understand that, on occasion, we ourselves might have the opportunity to bend it a little further toward justice. Gov. Mills had such an opportunity and did the opposite. Shame on her.

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